108. AMARANTACE.E. [5. Amarantus. 



Erect, usually stout. L. up to 5" and more. Clusters 



sometimes "in termiual spikes 5. gangeticus. 



Diffuse. L. •25-17". Clusters all axillary . . .6, mangodanus. 

 2. Bracts and tepals not awned:— 



a. Erect. Clusters often spicate. Utricle prominently 



rugose or sub-echinate, circumsciss . . .7. virldis. 



b. Erect or diffuse. Clusters all axillary. Utricle not 



or slightly rugose, often indehiscent : — 

 L. under 2", ovate to ell. -lanceolate. Tepals 3. 



Utricle globose with obtusely conical tip . . 8. hlifum. 

 L. -S-'l", obovate. Tepals 3. Utricle ovoid rugose . 9. polygamus. 

 L. •2--5", narrow-oblong. Tepals 2. Utricle longi- 

 tudinally furrowed, indehiscent . • . -10. fenuifolius. 



1. A. spinosus, L. Januma, Ho. ; Janum-ara, M. ; Kanta-natia, 



Beng. 



An erect glabrous coj)iously branched weed, 1-2 ft. high, armed with 

 sharp axillary spines. Leaves -25-4" long, ovate, lanceolate or 

 rhomboid. Flowers green, in axillary clusters and clusters also in 

 long terminal erect and also axillary more or less spreading spikes. 



Waste ground and cultivation, very common ! Throughout the province. Fl., 

 Fr. most of the year. 



Stem smooth, green, red or striped. Leaves with base narrowed into a slender 

 petiole, margin often crisped or waved. Spines attaining 1", very sharp. Bracts 

 narrow, shortly awned, exceeding the sepals Sepals with a green midrib and 

 scarious margins, of male acuminate, of female obtuse apiculate. Stamens 5. 

 Fern. fl. with 2-3 distant stigmas. Seed dark brown or black. 



The leaves are eaten. The ash of the plant is used as a dye. Camp. 



2. A. paniculatus, L. Syn. A. frumentaceus. Ham. ; Larka baha, S. 

 A large variously-coloured robust annual with stems often 1" diam. 



or more at base, erect with very numerous erect branches, 2-7 ft. 

 high with a panicle of one foot or more. Leaves ovate, elliptic or 

 sub-rhomboid-elliptic, 2-5" long, scarcelj^ acuminate, minutely dotted 

 beneath ; sec. n. fine but prominent, about 10, not including the 

 shorter intermediate. Spikes -S-V diam., the centre one 4" and 

 more with innumerable shorter lateral ones spreading at right angles, 

 and with those of the branches together forming a large thyrsoid 

 panicle, with acicular recurved bracts very much longer than the 

 oblong-lanceolate sharply acuminate sepals. 



Frequently cultivated ! Bhagalpur (Wall. 6903 a) ! Manbhum, Camp. ! 



The perianth and stems are often a bright claret-purple. Stems glabrous, 

 usually deeply channelled and ridged. Utricle somewhat rugose. Seeds black or 

 (in var. frumenfaceous) white. Roxburgh describes them as pellucid with a 

 callous white margin. 



3. A. caudatus, L. Syn. A. cruentus, Willd. ; Inc. A. alopecurus, 



Hoclist. ; Gandari, Ba Leper a :, Kol. ; Love-lies-bleeding. 



Less robust than the last with stems more regularly grooved, very 

 long-petioled narrowly elUptic or eUiptic obtuse leaves 2-5" long, 

 with 7-10 sec. n. Panicle far less dense, branches or spikes 1-3", 

 distinct, •15--2" wide, or if the panicle is thyrsoid branches subequal 

 3-4" (exc. var. alopecurus). Bracts acicular, longer than the obovate 

 mucronate sepals. 



Singbhum ! Sambalpur, Cal. Herb. ! Fl., Fr. r.s. 



761 



